Another Chance
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: Alarmed by the power of the Fierce Deity's Mask, Link returns to Hyrule and vows to uncover the mysteries behind it- and maybe find out a little about his own heart, too. T for things. Takes place in the same time period as Seventeen Again, but is a completely separate and independent storyline, though you might find some parallels… I do not own Legend of Zelda! *SUSPENDED.*
1. Prologue: Thousands of Years Prior

_In giving up my final breath, I save thee from an early death; for thou shalt carry on thy line, and likewise, I shall carry mine. In dying I bequeath to thee my greatest gift: eternity. My spirit breaks; I must away, and thou, immortal Link, must stay._

His lover's words echoed emptily through the Hero's mind as he contemplated the mask before him, forged into the likeness of his own face. He stood solemnly at the center of the islands which the Goddess had raised into the sky to protect the humans, yet her army of other creatures still fought below, dying for the sake of these ignorant, weak beings. He was ashamed to have been a part of their ranks once.

The Goddess's blood still stained the rocks; it had not dried more than half a day ago. While she had given up her immortality to him, calling him the divine Link between heaven and earth, it had caused him far more pain than allowing him to die would have. Besides, she had left the earth without her skill in battle, and there was no way the puny army of a people uneducated in the ways of warfare could possibly vanquish an army of demons whose very purpose in life was slaughter.

"Thou art troubled," said a voice behind him, and he whirled around, hand flying to the hilt of the sword which he himself had forged for the Goddess for their wedding day. His sister stood next to him, albeit bent double due to her severe injuries, and the Hero had to look far further down than he was used to watching; immortality had caused him to grow considerably in size.

When the Hero said nothing in response, she urged with an effort, "Thy problems shalt not go away on their own. I was charged with caring for the reincarnations of the Goddess; I am thy sister; thou mayest trust me with thy burdens." She hesitated; the Hero still gazed at the ground, staring at the dark red blood of his fiancée. "Was not thy sword and hers to be exchanged…?"

"On our wedding day, yes," finished the Hero, voice breaking. "Today."

"They must be used for bloodshed, and indeed already have been," observed his sister, grimacing and holding her side. "Thou canst not allow this to go unpunished, surely?"

"It wilt not," growled the Hero, and closed his eyes, allowing his tears to fall at last.

His sister offered no comfort, but rather maintained a humble silence, allowing him to reassemble his shattered thoughts and heart. When he looked up again, his sorrow had been replaced by a burning anger, a fury that practically tore him apart. The demons had ripped away his bride, destroyed any hope he would have had for a family, and obliterated all happiness in his life but for the slim ray of light that was his sister. He unsheathed his particularly lethal weapon with far more ease than he would have done as a human, and smiled, barely registering the ill-concealed alarm on his sister's face.

"I have no faith left in the Goddesses," the Hero said, voice eerily calm even to his own ears. "Thee—tell them I have gone to the battlefield to avenge the death of the Goddess, and tell them to seal the remnants of my immortality in this mask. I do not want _her_ to have died for naught. But tell them to let _me_ go, and let me be reborn in the same cycle as my love, so that I may be with her forevermore."

His sister nodded haltingly, making no other reply, and fell to her knees, beginning a fervently muttered prayer as she gazed with open mistrust towards the mask the Hero had forged. He gave her a half-smile, taking one last look into the eyes as red as the Goddess's blood, so holy—practically shining on the stones of the ground trampled by the enemy—before flying gently down to the battlefield with a heart thirsting for revenge and a sword wicked enough to ensure he obtained it.

**((Do tell me, how did you like my little theory? I figured Hylia probably had a chosen hero, and said hero probably was the first Link… Can you guess, according to this theory, who the First Link ended up being in a chronologically later game?**

**I'll get to the Link from that game in the next chapter! Hope you guys care enough to read it whenever I post it!))**


	2. Chapter 1: Kept by the Ranch

Link stared at the mask in his hands hazily as the early morning sunlight, in fiery colors that belied its coldness, touched the beautiful hills of Romani Ranch. It had been four years now since he had arrived in Termina—now he would be eighteen in a few days' time—and though he had made efforts to return to Hyrule (he had thought he was leaving for good the first time he tried), each year they had grown more and more halfhearted as more and more reasons to stay presented themselves.

Firstly, no one ever questioned his past, a fact for which Link was incredibly grateful. The last thing he needed was people badgering him about whence he had come, and why, and all that: because he had saved Termina, they kept whatever wonderings they might have had private, unlike the curious people of Hyrule. However, it was a double-edged sword: because he was not asked to recall his past, he found himself burying it deeper and deeper until Hyrule was merely the faintest trace of a dream.

Secondly, he had not been asked to return his many masks. In addition to several of them harboring a soul, they also kept Link's memories of his adventures through Termina intact. Besides, they were dead useful. It was because of those masks he succeeded in the first place, and he was not about to sell them to any antique collectors.

Thirdly, he hadn't yet accomplished what he had set out to do so long ago: find Navi, who had mysteriously disappeared after he came back from the future. The elusive fairy had been nowhere in Hyrule—he had several lookouts stationed in various places—and finally he had been forced to scour the Lost Woods, the only place which had not been accounted for, and it had been then that he had found the entrance to Termina.

Fourthly, and most importantly, he actually had no idea how to get back home.

But besides all those more logical reasons, there was the fact that Link's desire for Romani had been growing ever since he had first seen her. She was beautiful in a wild, passionate kind of way, flitting about in the sunshine like a butterfly with ornate wings. She fluttered so quickly from idea to idea it was difficult to follow her way of thinking, but it never mattered, because her ideas were so brilliant. Her eyes were the deepest kind of blue, the blue you'd find just after sundown, but before it's too dark to see; her hair reflected the fire of dawn, hanging long and straight down her back. Her body was slender yet somehow powerful, and Link knew all too well her prowess at archery (he had been shot in the thigh by accident once). Her manner was brash and breezy—she spoke boldly, and yet with a certain softness at times. Yes, Link liked Romani very much indeed, and he knew deep down that the central reason he didn't want to leave Termina was for the same reason he didn't want to stay: Malon.

Malon had been his best friend since the age of ten—eight years ago, now; Link struggled to grasp that it had been so long since he had first met her. She was the one who listened to his worries without laughing at him once, gave him advice on whatever troubled him, washed out his wounds, taught him to ride a horse, and sang along with his ocarina as they watched the stars come out in the dusky fields of her country home. Malon had a voice that could charm wood—a drop of honey on every note. A certain kind of power lay behind her innocent figure; her eyes each contained a fragment of noontime sky, but they burned with a half-hidden ferocity that Link well knew would lash out at anyone who threatened her loved ones. She was down-to-earth, never afraid to speak her mind, but was unfailingly kind to Link, never asking him questions when she could tell he needed to be alone, and lending him her room and bed on the spur of the moment if he needed a place to rest for the night.

Though he missed her so much it almost physically hurt him to be apart from her for nearly four years, it was also Malon that kept him away from Hyrule. For some reason, thinking of leaving one redheaded, blue-eyed beauty and meeting another in a separate context upset his thoughts; the two girls were so similar and somehow so different… It had been Romani's similarity to Malon that had attracted Link to her, and yet, it seemed so much more disloyal to fall for Malon (as Link believed he would were he to return to Hyrule) in Romani's absence than it had been the other way around.

He was no longer sure where his thoughts led him; he distracted himself by memorizing every feature on the Fierce Deity's blank-stared face, and by trying to find its history etched there somehow. The origins of this particular mask had baffled him since his obtaining it; it bore a remarkable alikeness to his own features, an unpleasant fact to Link because of his feeling that it was just as evil as the evil which he had fought using it.

The difference between this mask's spirit and all his others was somewhat subtle, and almost completely invisible to everyone on the outside. Most souls, trapped within their respective masks, always deferred to his own in the end, and it was only rarely that Link found himself reverting to their patterns of thought and their emotions. The Fierce Deity's Mask, however, almost swept him away with its own emotions each time he donned the mask (fewer and fewer times each year he'd stayed; he was ashamed to admit he was slightly afraid). His priorities reshuffled so quickly it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him: he felt that he was searching for something so important to him it made him physically ache. Everything endangered _her _well-being, whomever that might be—Link had tried to delve into these half-hidden thoughts with very limited success. Each time he killed, whether for food or because it attacked him, it felt as though he were avenging something. Fury and sorrow so deep he could not fathom it clouded Link's judgment and thoughts constantly, and he found himself having to fight to maintain a level head in many cases.

These emotions could hardly be baseless, mused Link, as he watched the sun rise out of the corner of his pensive eye. Something terrible had to have happened to the soul within the Mask, likely involving lost love. But, with only that speculation, he was hardly much closer to finding the elusive source of his greatest and most terrible ally.

He sighed and got up, shaking his head slightly to clear it of stray thoughts. _I hate it when my thoughts get that far away from me, _he growled to himself, slightly annoyed; there were chores to do, now that the sun was all the way up, and Epona would be demanding breakfast any second now.

Sure enough, a whinny sounded from the stall where she had been kept since her arrival in Termina at the same time as Link. He sighed, smiling a little to himself at his finicky horse, and filled her feeder with soft hay, smiling a bit wider as Romani walked out of the house, dressed in her simple cream-colored nightgown. Seeing her always brightened his day, no matter how serious a matter he was thinking of.

"Morning, Grasshopper," she called, beaming at him and disappearing into the cow shed to do her daily chores. Link followed her, wanting to spend the day with her, maybe finally confess where he had come from and all the little secrets he had kept hidden from all but Epona, who had shared her foalhood with Link.

"Can I help with anything?" asked Link, and Romani looked up from her milking.

"I don't think so," she responded, and brushed her tangled red hair out of her eyes. "I suppose you can brush my hair if you like," she murmured after a pause as she thought. "My hairbrush is on the dresser in my room."

Link nodded and walked over to the house, and tiptoed into Romani's room, wincing as the floorboards groaned. He didn't want to wake Cremia; now that Romani was old enough to accomplish most things on her own, she slept later and later each day. Link was reminded strongly of Talon and how he never seemed to be fully awake, then cursed himself for thinking of Hyrule for the second time in a single day—more than he'd done in a month altogether. If he kept this up, he'd find himself _wanting _to go, which almost scared him. Link might have been a hero, but it wasn't in the job description not to feel guilt at how long he'd stayed, and not to want to prolong the amount of time it would be before he had to face whatever had happened in his absence.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Link opened the door to Romani's room, which creaked and made him wince again, and fetched the rough wooden hairbrush as though he was on a stealth mission; he slipped back out of the room, shut the door quickly, and sprinted all the way back to the barn as though _they _were after him.

Romani glanced up and smiled her traditional, half-mischievous smile at him. "Took you long enough," she joked gaily, seeing Link's rosy complexion brought from running so early in the day. "Get brushing," she added, turning back to her cow.

Link had no problem following his orders; he eagerly parted Romani's silky hair, moving with her as she milked each cow in turn, and had worked out most of the knots (grimacing himself as Romani flinched whenever he pulled too hard) by the time she was done collecting milk. She caught his hand; he started, reflexively pulling away before he relaxed. But she was only retrieving her hairbrush, and used it herself to get the places Link had missed, humming a little under her breath. Romani hit the notes, and always had, but somehow lacked the spirit behind Malon's song. _Maybe Malon confines her spirit to music, and Romani's spirit is so open all the time she doesn't need any extra in her lyrics._

"Hey, do you want to spend the day together? I want to tell you…" began Link, surprising himself by speaking so confidently when he himself wasn't sure what he was going to tell her. His face burned as his sentence trailed off, but Romani didn't seem to care.

"Of course, Grasshopper," she sighed, a pleased expression on her face, and she leaned up and kissed Link's cheek. He froze and put his hand to his face; though this was nothing special, and they had done more than just a kiss on the cheek, it always startled him when she did it unexpectedly like that.

"…Your chores done?"

Romani snorted. "How long exactly have you lived with us? You know I'm always out and about for an hour before I have any free time," she scoffed, and Link felt as though she had reprimanded him far more harshly than she had intended. He must have looked taken aback, because Romani's expression softened and she said gently, "No, they're not done. But I'll hurry, if you like." Link nodded, then headed out to visit Epona.

The greedy little horse had already finished all her hay, and nosed him hopefully for treats. Link opened up her stall and she obediently trotted out, standing next to him a moment later; he fetched her favorite brush and worked out some of the mud spots in her coat (a storm had recently hit, and it hadn't stopped raining for a week straight).

Perhaps half an hour later, Romani reappeared from the house, fully dressed and looking radiant as usual. Link smiled and offered Epona, newly haltered, to her; she returned his grin and allowed Link to help her onto the horse's back. Leading Epona out to the beautiful meadow of Romani Ranch, he wondered what he was going to talk about.

"You were going to say something," said Romani, as though she had read his mind.

"U-uh, yes," stammered Link, caught by surprise. "I was." He hesitated. Was it right to tell? But he had begun now; it would be cruel to withhold it from her. "Did I ever tell you where exactly I was from?"

"You said 'not from around here'," laughed Romani. "Didn't give me any of the particulars, though…"

Link took a deep breath, not understanding why it was so difficult for him to tell her. Maybe he was worried he would speak too fondly of the lovely Zelda, and make her jealous. Regardless of his nerves, though, he would have to tell her sometime, and he sighed before looking up with an effort.

"I'm from a kingdom called Hyrule," began Link, unsurprised to see the confusion on Romani's face; she had not heard of it. "When I was born, there was a civil war going on. My mother brought me to the Kokiri Forest and begged its guardian spirit, the Great Deku Tree, to take me in as one of its own. He let me stay there until I was ten years old…" He trailed off, unsure of where to go from there. Any information about his friendship with Saria seemed superfluous somehow, so he determined to stick to the most important facts.

"You were raised as one of the fairy children?" whispered Romani, looking awestruck and dismounting from Epona. "That's amazing! There are stories about them," she added, as Link was about to ask how she knew about the Kokiri (he hadn't encountered a single one since his arrival in Termina). "About how they're always young, and each of them gets a fairy."

Link nodded, absorbed in his own memories, finally allowed to come back to him in full clarity. "I wasn't given a fairy until my tenth birthday, though." He paused. "I don't actually know when my birthday is," he admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "The Kokiri all celebrate on the first day of spring, which is welcoming the new year—that's as close to a birthday as I can get."

But Romani was looking interested. "Why was that?"

"I wasn't a natural-born Kokiri, so a fairy didn't claim me." Link smiled a little, remembering how this had been a reason why Mido had teased him when he was younger. _Well, if it isn't the boy without a fairy! _he called jeeringly, in his mind's eye. He had gone crying more than once to Saria, and almost laughed aloud as he thought of the transformation he had made from the shy little kid who was constantly bullied to the triumphant savior of two kingdoms.

"But then what?" prompted Romani, and Link started. He wasn't sure how long he had been lost in his thoughts.

"Navi," reminisced Link. "She became my partner, and we headed off into Hyrule to go see the princess—"

"A _princess_!" gasped Romani. "You know _royalty_? What's she like?"

"Yes," responded Link, amused at the simple pleasures she took in surprises. "Her name is Zelda," he continued, careful to keep out the wistful quality that always entered his voice when he spoke of her to Epona. "She's gentle, kind, and beautiful—in a regal sort of way," he added, just to make sure Romani wouldn't get jealous. "She can ride a horse and play the harp, and she taught me a lot of the songs I know."

_Even though the teleportation songs don't work when I play them in Termina, _he thought, annoyed as he was whenever he remembered this. He looked up to see Romani's round-eyed awe, and laughed, frustration dissipating as he helped her down from Epona.

"So she's pretty much the perfect princess?"

"That's one way to put it," he replied cautiously. "So do you want to hear about—"

"Yes," was the answer, cutting off the question. Link chuckled, taking her hand in one of his and leading Epona along by the halter with his other. "What?" she demanded, looking defensive in the exaggerated manner she adopted whenever she was joking. "I'm curious!"

Link sat beside her in the shade of a nearby tree, telling her the chilling tales of his battles against the evil that had taken hold of the land. Never once did her eyes leave his face, but through her amazement at his escapades, he saw her manner get more and more dismayed as his story continued, until finally he felt compelled to ask her what was wrong.

"You've stayed too long," she murmured. "You need to go back."

"But the reason I left," responded Link, "was to find Navi, who left me for reasons unknown after I returned to my own time—and I haven't accomplished my mission yet." He neglected to add that he hadn't even been looking for her these last couple years, or at least not most of the time.

"I'll help you search," said Romani, almost fiercely. "You _must_ go home."

"I'd have to leave you!" protested Link.

"That's no matter, compared to all the friends you've already left," retorted Romani, though Link could see pain in her gaze and movements as she rose. "Let's go to the Woods of Mystery, now." She paused for a moment, clearly thinking. "Only tell me this. What's the difference between being granted a fairy by the Great Deku Tree you spoke of, and traveling with any old fairy you meet along your journey?"

"If the Great Deku Tree gives you a fairy," remembered Link, albeit with some difficulty, "its lifespan extends to exactly yours. You're bound for life. You can't get another partner like that, no matter how much you want one." He wasn't about to deny that the thought had crossed his mind more than once to just get another fairy, one a little less… repetitive, but he knew that was impossible.

"As I thought," said Romani with satisfaction. "And…" Another hesitation. "Does she love you as much as I do?" As Link looked, startled, into her face, he saw a burning blush take hold in her already rosy cheeks, but she met his eyes with a determined expression.

"…I think so. That is," he added, trying to cover his own embarrassment, "she's jealous of every girl I talk to besides her."

"Perfect!" exclaimed Romani. "Get on Epona, and wait here." Without further ado, she dashed off, face still red, and Link had no choice but to get up and mount Epona. _What is in that girl's head?_

Of course, he was pleased to hear her admit aloud that she loved him. Though they had known they _liked _one another over the last couple years, and she had kissed him many times, and he her no fewer, it was another story entirely to be told she _loved _him. He was almost certain he loved her, too, but being the savior of multiple nations had a curious way of rearranging the way he thought of things. He found that loving anyone or anything was too painful to deal with, which was why, perhaps, Navi had been such a good partner.

Link had loved the Kokiri Forest, but it had been overrun by monsters. He had loved Saria, but she had been captured and subsequently made a Sage, unable to do anything but serve the deities. He had loved Malon, but she had been powerless to stop Ingo from taking over the ranch and catering to the needs of Ganondorf and his army. He had loved Zelda, but she had been taken away and almost killed. He loved Romani now, but he was going to have to leave her sooner rather than later and both of them knew it. Link had learned a long time ago not to let things affect him easily, and yet she had dug in past his defenses and made him care for her; now, each of them had to pay the price.

Romani came galloping up on her own horse, Celesta. "Let's go to the Woods of Mystery, Grasshopper," she said, putting on a brave smile, and Link could only return it—sadly—as he thought of everything he had to lose by going, and everything he had already lost by staying.

**((So, people who read _Seventeen Again_! How's this one compare so far? I know it's a much darker, much less humorous tack, but that'll possibly change sometime in the nearish future. People who haven't! How did you like it?**

**Do you ship Link/Romani as much as I do? That actually knocked Link/Malon out of first place for me, which is saying something… Thought it'd never happen.**

**I'll stop rambling now. Tell me what you think!))**


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to Memory Lane

As soon as they arrived at the Woods of Mystery, perhaps an hour later, Romani got a wicked grin on her face that unnerved Link immensely. Though he asked what was going on, he received nothing but a widened smile in return. Eventually, he adjusted to her new attitude, and checked his surroundings carefully for danger, as he was accustomed to doing.

They rode for what seemed like hours, but Link knew time had little meaning in this forest. He had noted, long ago, that this place had a habit of making one lose track of what day or hour it was. The sunlight itself, filtered through the trees, was ambiguous; it could have been morning or evening for all they knew.

"How long will it take to find Navi?" asked Link after a very long silence, if the cacophony of birds and insects in the background could be considered silence. "I've been looking for years, and you didn't let us bring any supplies…"

"It shouldn't take too long," was her response. "If I'm right, that is," she muttered, but Link got the feeling the last part was to herself and he had not been meant to hear. He contented himself with dismounting from Epona and leading her to one of the clear pools of water scattered around the woods; he could sense she needed to rehydrate.

Romani too got off her horse and let him drink, and as soon as their horses were preoccupied with quenching their thirst, she pushed him up against a stone wall and kissed him much more passionately than she was ordinarily wont to do.

At first, Link was a little too surprised to do anything much more than blink, but he shut his eyes and relaxed into it without further ado. What this had to do with finding Navi he couldn't quite make out, but there was no way he was going to complain that the girl he was pretty sure he loved was demonstrating once and for all where her affections lay.

After a short time (just as Link was thinking he could die happily knowing he'd been properly kissed), as if out of nowhere, an irate ball of sparkles with wings crashed full force into Romani, knocking her head aside and causing them both to recoil. Romani threw her fist in the air in a gesture of wild triumph, and the ball of sparkles flashed at a very confused Link, "Where have you _been_?"

He could do nothing but look at Romani. "How…?" he began weakly, not sure which of his two questions he wanted to ask first: _How did she know this would do it? …How come this even worked to begin with? _

"I've been tracking you by your stronger emotions!" sparkled Navi, plainly furious, and Link sighed. _That explains it._ "But whenever I get to where you were, you're always gone… and you haven't felt anything this strong in ages! Now let's get out of here. You have a…" She hovered distastefully in front of Romani. "Girlfriend," she decided, "to take home, and some goodbyes to say before we go."

"But," protested Link.

"Now!" glittered Navi, and sped off. Link had little choice but to follow, looking back somewhat reproachfully at Romani. As much as he had missed Navi to begin with, his loneliness had ebbed considerably, to the point where he had been quite content to let her stay missing forever—or at least, for longer than the eight years they had been apart.

"See what you've done?" he muttered to her, not without humor in his voice.

"Yeah," responded Romani, who was looking a little less exuberant at her success at this point. "Yeah, I see what you meant about this… Navi, and how she—"

"What about me?" she glimmered, flying back and hovering before them. When neither of them said anything, she snapped, "Come on, I heard my name! You can't have been talking about a different Navi. I mean, how common a name is it?"

Link wasn't sure what made him do it, but the next moment, Navi was safely folded away in his cap, tiny bell-like voice muffled as she struggled to free herself from the suffocating green.

She continued fighting all the way back to Romani Ranch, almost making off with his hat. As soon as they had let the horses back in their stalls to eat dinner, Link let Navi out, hoping her argumentativeness would have died down. If anything, though, she seemed even more energetic. When he could hear her voice again, she was raging, "You run off for _eight years _and the only thing you can do when I find you again is shut me in a hat!"

"Navi," began Link, annoyed, but the furious fairy wasn't finished.

"And I catch you kissing that Malon hussy—"

"Malon isn't a hussy, and this isn't Malon!" interjected Link angrily.

"—some _non-_Malon hussy," amended Navi, "and—"

"Navi, will you shut it!" roared Link, startling everyone around him, including himself. "It's thanks to Romani you found me, you've never complained about being in my hat before, and _you _were the one who left _me _and brought me into this Goddess-forsaken place—"

Navi's wings sank down; she was sitting on his shoulder now, and her voice was dejected as she responded, "All right, all right. I guess I get it." She gave a brave attempt at a laugh, and then shook her head—or rather, body, as she had no specific _head_—and sighed, "I'm sorry. I was called away to receive the blessings of the Great Fairies of Hyrule and Termina, you know, and… well, it took longer than expected," she finished lamely.

"What were you _doing_, anyway?" Link leaned against the stable wall, blinking a little as Romani lit a lantern; night had almost fallen by this time and soon it would be completely dark.

"Raising the next generation of fairies!" glowed Navi, all traces of anger and depression gone from her now-excited voice. "They decided that since I was the partner of a hero, I should play a part in raising the next guardians of the Kokiri. I couldn't explain to you because you wouldn't have understood," she added, as Link frowned. "Also, because the fairy hatchery's location is a secret!"

"Well," reasoned Romani, interrupting what Link had no doubt would be a very long-winded spiel, "it has to be in Termina, right? Because you would never have spent the amount of time you did here unless—"

"I was busy looking for Link," said Navi delicately, as though she were granting Romani a gift to be speaking to her at all. "That's the only reason I stayed here after my year's worth of training and year's worth of raising, you know."

"Unless," continued Romani patiently, "you just don't know how—"

"Of course I know how to get back to Hyrule!" exploded Navi.

"How?" asked Link, careful to sound only curious and not as annoyed as he felt.

"You have to go back to the Woods of Mystery and get lost," she said proudly.

"I'm sorry?" asked Link, eyes wide. _There's no way I'm getting lost on purpose!_

"You_ have_ to get lost," Navi repeated, a bite of impatience in her tiny voice. "For certain you have to be lost to get to a place that can't be found!"

"…Can't Hyrule be found?" asked Link. He and Romani exchanged a glance—his nervous against his will, hers skeptical.

"Did you _know_," asked Navi, sounding exasperated, "about Termina, before you landed here? No," she added, cutting Link off before he could respond. "No, you didn't. It's the same here for Hyrule. Yes, it can be found, but most people don't know that!"

"Well, this has all been very enlightening," yawned Romani, stretching, "but I think I'll leave you two to… catch up." Link could see in the dim light that her beautiful features were downcast, and he almost reached for her to comfort her, but something told him to let her go. He waited until she shut the door to round on Navi, who was fluttering in front of him, completely unabashed.

"You…" hissed Link, then stopped himself. Getting angry, especially for a reason he didn't quite understand, would help no one at this point.

"Why so hostile?" glimmered Navi, sounding hurt.

"I just…" He sighed. "I'm more used to life without you than with," he admitted grudgingly after a moment. "This is going to take some adjustment. Why are you in such a hurry to get back to Hyrule, anyway?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to stay?" she flashed back. "If you ask me, it's just because of that non-Malon hussy—"

"I _told _you, she's not a hussy!"

"Non-Malon _girl_, then, happy?"

"No," said Link sullenly, and shut his eyes, thumping his head against the wall exhaustedly. However he had expected his reunion with the wayward fairy to go, it wasn't like this. _I suppose I had best get used to disappointment. _He wasn't actually sure why he hadn't learned that long ago, as his plans were constantly being ruined. Taking a moment to reflect on how many times exactly he had had to readjust to some new and terrible situation, Link noticed with a jolt that Navi was regarding him with a peculiar… aura. (One can't really call it an "expression".)

"…and you don't seem yourself anymore, really," finished Navi, voice breaking. "Oh, Link, what's happened to you?"

"Maybe I've developed an intolerance for constant nagging?" suggested Link after a moment's deliberation as to what to say to his oversensitive partner. "I haven't had a fairy partner in years now; Tatl left me—"

"You've been _cheating _on me?" Navi's voice registered shock in absurd levels as she interrupted him. "Why you little…!"

"I'm bigger than you are," smiled Link.

"You know what I meant!" Navi flew loops in the air; Link wondered how she even survived, expending this much energy every time she experienced an emotion more or less than that of an inanimate object. "You've had another fairy partner since me! You've broken the Great Deku Tree's sacred bond!"

"Calm down!" exclaimed Link. "Would you have been able to find me if I had?"

"Well, no," admitted Navi. "But still!"

"Look, if I had had a choice at first, I would as soon have made her my partner as smashed her underneath a rock," sighed Link, remembering how she had stayed behind just to pelt him in the head repeatedly when he had already fallen. "But she insisted on staying with me just so we could find the Skull Kid and…"

"What Skull Kid?" demanded Navi.

"There was a Skull Kid that stole Epona _and _the Ocarina of Time, and he was going to make the moon fall on Termina and destroy it, but apparently the Song of Time has other uses here—I used it to send me back to the beginning of the three days—"

"The Song of Time sends you to the _past_?" gasped Navi.

"Yes," growled Link. "Now will you let me finish? To make a very long and complicated story much shorter, I managed to stop him with the help of several masks, four of which have souls trapped inside them—"

"They have _souls _inside—"

"Interrupt me one more time, Navi," said Link through clenched teeth, "and yours will join their ranks."

The fairy fell silent as she absorbed his words. Satisfied, Link continued, "I'm going to sell most of my masks. A lot of them are useless anyway. But I can't give away the four with souls in them—they could be really destructive in others' hands…"

"Or on their faces!"

"That too." Link gave her a genuine, though somewhat exasperated, smile. However annoying Navi was—she hadn't changed a day since last he'd seen her—it lent a strangely nostalgic feeling to the evening, and Link began to experience the wanderlust that had gripped him so long ago, since before he left Hyrule. Romani was pushed to the back of his mind momentarily, replaced by Malon and Zelda, before he dragged her back into greater prominence, alarmed at his abruptly altered priorities.

"When do you want to leave?" asked Navi softly, as they regarded the unfamiliar stars, glancing coldly down at them from the all-knowing heavens. These ageless celestial bodies, unaffected by the passage of time, had seen him arrive, and now they would see him leave. His eyes instinctively avoided the more-than-slightly-psychotic, more literal gaze of the moon.

There was a pause as he thought. "After three days have passed," he replied. "On the morning of my eighteenth birthday."

"Promise me you won't use the Song of Time to restart them," said Navi sharply, and Link grinned. He hadn't been planning on doing so, though the thought had crossed his mind.

"I promise," he murmured, a bittersweet feeling flooding his mind, and turned to go inside, Navi whisking herself into his cap as though no time had passed at all since their last parting.

**((I'm sorry if I made Navi too obnoxious, or moved Link/Romani forward too quickly! I tried implying that the latter relationship was a romantic one, but…))**


	4. Chapter 3: Some Final Encounters

The next three days, filled with violent sunshine, passed far too quickly for Link's tastes. He would have given anything to play the Inverted Song of Time and prolong the time he had left with Romani, but he knew that was impossible, mainly because his sense of honor wouldn't let him even come close to breaking his promise to Navi. That, and time slowed down only for himself, thereby making it useless for anything but the minimal time it took him to soar to various locations throughout Termina and say his goodbyes.

Each night, however, Romani made him come alive in ways Link never thought she would. There was no danger of Cremia hearing them, as she disappeared to the Milk Bar each evening to make her deliveries, and it was easy enough to wait until the easily exhaustible Navi fell asleep. Link was always very careful not to wake her when he slipped back into his own bed, dripping wet from a midnight bath, though each time he thought she glowed a little brighter when he returned, as though a part of her consciousness was coming back.

"Link," sparkled Navi thoughtfully on the morning after they were first reunited, "have you thought about what you were going to say to the different races you've said you became? They know you to be their heroes, but they don't know your true identity, do they?"

Link and Navi had stayed up well into the wee hours of the morning discussing his adventure through Termina in way more depth than he had wanted to, and Link was honestly surprised Navi could remember that much, since she seemed to be asleep through half of his tales, much to his annoyance.

"…No," he responded, frowning. "But," he added, "I'll tell them before I go."

"And the Hyli—I mean, _humans_?" asked Navi. "They know the full story, but I still can't see them letting you go too easily, or at least not without a considerable amount of praise and present-giving." She fluttered onto Link's head. "I'll be very surprised if you aren't so laden down with gifts that you'll need a wagon to get out of here with all of it!"

Link nodded distractedly, his mind on which people he should disappoint first.

* * *

When he arrived at the Deku Palace in the Southern Swamp, wearing the appropriate mask, he was greeted by general excitement; he felt a twinge of guilt as he realized they weren't expecting he had come to say goodbye. At the King's bidding, he stepped onto His Majesty's pedestal and looked down at the Deku assembled below him, regarding him with trustful admiration.

"I…" he began uncertainly. Navi fluttered out of his cap and he felt a rush of courage; he tried to convey his thankfulness through the blank, glowing stare of the Deku, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. "I've come to say… the time has finally come for me to leave you all."

There was general consternation at his words, but no one interrupted him. He continued, "I'll miss you," with perfect sincerity; the Deku were a simple people, but an honorable one. "But I must return to where I truly belong." At some urge stirring within him, he bowed his overlarge head and removed his mask, to gasps from the crowd which quickly escalated into shrieks.

"I am a Hylian!" he bellowed over the sudden uproar, which quieted immediately at the sound of his now much deeper voice. "I hail from Hyrule, kingdom of the Golden Goddesses, and I have only come here to find a… beloved and invaluable friend." Navi literally glowed at the praise, brushing against his cheek affectionately.

Not a sound was made among the Deku now assembled; they only stared at him with their hollow gaze. Link got the feeling they were all wondering whether they should be awestruck or furious. It seemed the majority had settled on the former, though he did spot a couple grumbling angrily and glaring.

"Well?" demanded Navi, shimmering as she danced before the crowd. "Will you scorn your savior, who returned the Princess to her home? Will you exile your hero, who brought glory to the name of Deku? Does his shape truly matter, as you have seen his heart and know it to be true?" She zipped back inside his hat as he blinked in amazement; Navi had never been much of a speechmaker to anyone but him.

"Long live Link of Hyrule!" exclaimed a solitary voice after a lengthy, stress-ridden pause, and Link recognized the butler to the Royal Family looking up at him with solemnity in every one of his wooden features.

"Long live Link of Hyrule!" was the echoing cry of every other Deku in the hall. Link smiled hesitantly, stepping aside as his nerves gradually stopped jangling. He focused his energy first on thanking Navi in a murmur, and trying to keep track of what the King was now saying—something about throwing a spontaneous feast.

"Thank you," said Link, bowing. "I would be honored."

The feast was very quickly assembled, much to Link's surprise, but slowly eaten. (Deku's mouths were so tiny compared to their noses that they took a very long time to eat, and longer to digest; Link was finished in a quarter of the time the others took.) The food was excellent: the appetizer was chilled vegetable soup; the entrée, all manner of native swamp flora; the dessert, several different varieties of fruit, sweet and sour and bitter all at once. However, Link felt himself overcome by homesickness—the Kokiri were vegetarians (something Link had grown out of about as soon as he met Malon), and this meal was so like the last one he had eaten with his old friends that he was lost in memories for the time it took for the other Deku to finish their meal. Navi seemed to understand, and rested next to Link's ear; her bell-like whisper assured him that everything would be all right.

After the last bite had been swallowed, the Deku as good as demanded he make a speech, so Link rose obediently, towering over his trusting audience, and cleared his throat somewhat apprehensively. He could tell his speech was going to be a short one even before he began.

"You are a kind race, and a true one. Being one of you has taught me more than perhaps any other of my—" He opened his eyes again as he interrupted himself; he wasn't sure he wanted them to learn that he had been other heroes as well. "Well… goodbye," he finished awkwardly as he found his throat constricted, and left the Palace in a hurry, soaring away before anyone could catch him.

* * *

Gazing sadly at the grass that materialized beneath his feet as he landed at Romani Ranch, Link reflected that his last statement to them was true. He _had _learned more from the Deku than any other race—perhaps because Deku had never played a large part in his Hyrulian life, or perhaps because they had no obvious physical advantages. They had taught him that true power was dependent on spirit.

Granted, the Deku Mask had been the least used of all his masks, even the dangerous and forbidding Fierce Deity's. He shuddered as he imagined its cold influence taking hold of him, maybe making him harm Romani or someone else close to him. The effect it had on him was complete; each time, he felt as though a cold iron fist reached into him and constricted his heart and soul, bending it to some invisible, corrupt will that felt like his and yet more than his.

"What are we standing here for?" asked Navi, sounding more curious than demanding, much to Link's surprise. "It's almost sundown already, and you're just loafing around instead of feeding Epona…"

"All right, all right," muttered Link, and wandered over to the barn, pouring out some grain for Epona and then turning around to see Romani standing just behind him. She had a peculiar kind of smile on her face, which wavered for a moment when she noticed Navi, but it was a very different kind of grin from what he was used to: this was a suggestive kind of grin, as his instincts pointed out. He blinked, somewhat taken aback, and swept Navi into his cap without further ado.

"So, Grasshopper," she said, walking towards him in a somehow shy yet bold manner—_flirtatious, that's the word_—"do you have any plans for the evening? It's a nice night, you know, and you're going to be… leaving soon." She stumbled over the last couple words, but her smile never altogether disappeared.

"When do I _ever_ have plans?" asked Link, chuckling despite himself.

"I was just making sure," murmured Romani. "Do you want to spend it together?"

"No, I think I'd rather spend it with Lulu," said Link as seriously as possible, but he and Romani burst out laughing a second later; Lulu was all very well, but she didn't have Romani's strength of spirit, and they both knew he would rather have the feisty redhead any day. _But I'll have to tell her her boyfriend is dead… _Guilt pulsed through him as the thought sprang unbidden to his mind, and he wondered what he could possibly say to her.

"Well, I'll consider retracting my offer, then," she joked, bringing him back to the present as her eyes sparkled like the depths of the Great Bay. "Let me know if Lulu gives you half of what I was planning to," she added, looking determined; Link realized she was fighting down a blush.

"What were you planning to give me?" asked Link, confused. It wasn't like Romani to make a big deal out of giving Link gifts; ordinarily, she just handed him the thing with a brief explanation, and Link said thank you.

"You'll see, later," said Romani, "once the others are asleep." She winked at him, something she had never done before, and walked inside, calling over her shoulder that dinner would be ready in a little while. Link scratched his head, allowing Navi out of his cap and wondering what was in store for him later that evening.

* * *

He found out, and about as soon as he had, he wondered why exactly he had not done so sooner. But he didn't have time to dwell on any memories, as in the morning, Navi woke him up at an hour that wouldn't have been ungodly had he actually gone to sleep when his fairy thought he had; she couldn't understand why he was so exhausted.

"I don't even want to move today," he groaned, pulling on his tunic.

"What have you been dreaming of, running from Ganondorf?" she twinkled.

"My mind was more agreeably occupied," responded Link, and hastily changed the subject to the Goron Village, where he planned on going next. He was a little more worried about the Gorons than about the Deku, since if the Gorons got angry at him, there wasn't a lot he could do but put on his mask again and roll out of there. Deku he had faced and defeated before, easily, but Gorons were fearsome creatures. You wouldn't want them as your enemy.

However much he complained about walking—Romani had assured him it would get better if he got regular practice, though he wasn't about to ask how she knew, or how he would manage after he left her—he made it to the Goron Village without much of a real problem, donned his mask, and prepared to give his second speech of the week.

As the elder gathered his people into the Goron Shrine upon his arrival, Link paced, wincing as his footsteps shook the ground. He hated being a Goron; though it added a considerable amount of physical strength to his list of qualities, he despised how heavy he was, and how helpless he was if he fell into the water. The other forms had no specific _weakness_ like Gorons did.

"They are all assembled," whispered the elder, feebly. It seemed as though he had gotten ten years older in the last four, and Link began to worry that he would drop dead on the spot if he learned that Link was not, in fact, Darmani—or worse, turn against him.

"Thank you," said Link nervously, and stepped forward, surrounded by Gorons—a very different situation from when he was in _front _of all the Deku. He checked the exits in case things turned ugly, which he thought unlikely but still more possible than with the plant people, and cleared his throat.

"I must leave you now," he said, but was immediately cut off by the elder's son, whose name he had never bothered learning after that infernal ruckus he kicked up the first time they had encountered one another.

"No!" he exclaimed. "You must stay, Darmi. We are your people!"

Link couldn't find the words to say he wasn't without arousing anger among the already anxious crowd, so he bowed his head and removed his mask without further ado, becoming his taller and slimmer Hylian self immediately and sighing in relief as he felt light as air. Revealing himself for what he was seemed much easier than trying to explain, even if it turned the mob against him faster.

There were gasps—those of shock, alarm, dismay, and anger.

"Darmi! You lied to us!" yelled the child.

"I had no choice!" exclaimed Link, looking around at all the other Gorons with a rather undignified pleading expression in his eyes. "Please understand—I still love you all as brothers, and Darmani charged me with caring for you. I couldn't let him down by leaving the mask be!"

"But you could have told us you weren't Darmani, and you didn't," observed the elder coldly, much to Link's surprise. _I guess he feels more betrayed than the others since he offered me the position of tribal patriarch…_

"Would you have believed in me if I had done so?" shot back Link, anger rising. "No. And I wouldn't have been half as successful in anything I did as a hero _anywhere _if I wasn't a Goron, able to buy powder kegs and use them!" He sighed, frustrated. "You are a proud people, but—"

"He has traveled _everywhere _bearing news of your greatness!" shimmered Navi, fluttering around to each of the doubtful Gorons' faces in turn. "Will you despise the one who demonstrated your power to the people of Clock Town? Can you really be so ungrateful to him as to exile the one who brought spring to the mountains? Would you send away the one who was just as much of a hero as Darmani was, in his own right?" She zipped inside his hat, and Link blinked. _She's going to save me again…_

"Hail Link!" bellowed one of the Gorons Link recognized as the one who had worked on Darmani's grave. The other Gorons looked at him, and Link could see the challenge in his returned stare. Eventually, after a nerve-wracking half minute, they turned back to Link.

"Hail Link!" echoed the chant. Link breathed a somewhat shaky sigh of relief.

"I… should be going," he said.

"But _where_?" asked the elder, scowling. "Where is there for you to go?"

"A kingdom called Hyrule," was Link's response, and he avoided the gazes of the Gorons as he took his leave of the shrine. That had gone much more messily than he had anticipated, and it was again thanks to Navi that none of them turned against him. Now he remembered why he had kept her by his side when he was ten years old. She did have quite a way with words. _I'm sure Navi could talk any sentient enemy to death…_

"Well, that was a fiasco," sighed Link after he had again returned to Romani Ranch. It was much earlier this time, as there had been no feast and indeed little comfort that the Gorons saw him as anything but an impostor; the sun was still high in the sky and glared down at him with all its might.

"You're welcome!" exclaimed Navi, smacking into his head reproachfully.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," sighed Link, rubbing the spot where she had hit him; it stung much more than one would expect from the mark of a creature made almost entirely of light. "Really," he added, as Navi seemed skeptical due to his tone of voice. "That's the second time today you've probably saved my life."

"First," corrected Navi. "I'd like to see a lot of Deku scrubs _try _to take you down."

"I wouldn't!" said Link fervently. "They're tougher than they seem…"

"Anyway, what are you going to do for the rest of the day?" glinted Navi. "You could get your goodbyes out of the way with the Zora too, you know. Then you'd have all of tomorrow to spend with Romani, and maybe tell Clock Town too."

"Uh…" began Link, trying to find something wrong with Navi's plan, but shaking his head as he found nothing. He was best with battle strategy, but was somehow terrible with planning more personal affairs, such as saying farewells. _I guess we make a good team in that respect… She's quite the effective little personal secretary._

"Okay." Link nodded briefly to Navi, who glowed with satisfaction and cuddled into Link's hair after she whooshed under his cap. He sighed and played the Song of Soaring with less enthusiasm than he had ever played it with before, dreading that he would have to break Lulu's heart.

**((I was originally going to have all his goodbyes said in one chapter, but you know, I think this madness has gone on long enough… Anyway, as a side note, I know in the game the Terminians have pointed ears, but I figured just to make Termina have one more major difference—and one more reason to see Link as unusual—maybe it would have a population of primarily humans, since Hylia isn't a thing in their culture.))**


	5. Chapter 4: Thief of Heart

Before Link departed to the Zora Hall, he decided he couldn't go any longer without eating; since Navi absorbed light and fed that way, she tended to forget about Link's unhappy stomach. Link determinedly avoided Romani's even blue gaze as she served him a platter of sausages; he knew he would turn redder than Din's earth if he didn't. This was, after all, the first time it was light enough to see her since last night, and she had been busy in the morning as he went to say farewell to the Gorons.

After he wolfed down his rather late lunch, saying a hasty goodbye to a highly amused Romani (much to Navi's readily voiced confusion), he soared to the Great Bay, his mind on matters quite different from what it had been focused on earlier. Reality gave him a slap to the face, however, as he found Lulu standing at the shore, staring at the sea. _She never comes up this far, though, _Link thought, panicking; _what if she sees Mikau's grave?_

Link hurriedly donned his Zora Mask, walking over to Lulu. He admitted to himself that she looked rather fetching in her traditional short indigo dress, fitting of the fact that she sang in a band with the color in its name. Yesterday evening had given him some altogether unexpected perspectives on things, such as how to identify what a fine body looked like. For the first time he regretted not having taken Lulu up on her repeated offers, but then he reminded himself that he loved Romani, so that wouldn't have felt right.

"Hello, Mikau," said Lulu, without turning to face him, and there was something definitely melancholy in her voice. "How flow your tides?"

"Well, thanks," responded Link automatically; he remembered the first time he had heard that phrase, not knowing how to respond. "And yours?"

It was a long time before she responded.

"The winds whisper an omen of heartbreak," she said softly, so that Link had to lean in to hear. "I can only hope it isn't so…" Lulu turned away from him, as though looking at him caused her pain, but before Link could feel hurt at this, she looked back into his eyes with such tenderness that Link almost lost his cool. He could sense Mikau's lonely soul within him, aching to be the dominant one, to seize Link's body and take Lulu then and there.

"I love you, Mikau," she breathed, and kissed him.

Link had kissed Lulu before—it would have been more unseemly for him not to, since he was supposedly her mate—but never quite like this. Never with the full knowledge of what she really wanted from him; never with the consciousness that she would learn in such a short time that he was not her lover; yet, never with the awareness of how smooth and cold and fine her skin was, and never with quite so much passion. He had always forced her gently to restrain herself; he had wanted his first particularly _romantic_ kiss to be with a woman he actually loved.

_Nothing like this awaits me in Hyrule, _he thought, relaxing just a little. _I had better get as much practice in as possible. _It was hard to believe that it had been just a couple days ago that he had first kissed in this manner, and now he was getting much more than just that. Things were moving a little fast, he admitted to himself as Lulu pulled away. But he was okay with that.

Navi was rustling in impatience inside Link's cap, unable to see what was going on, though how Navi even saw anything to begin with was beyond him. He could sense her wanting to speak out, and tell him not to say he loved her, but she had the sense to hold her… tongue…? Whatever fairies spoke with.

"I love you too, Lulu," responded Link eventually, and even to him the words sounded empty. He didn't love Lulu, and deep down, both of them knew it. He thought she was beautiful; alluring, perhaps, in a way alien to him until yesterday—but he didn't love her. He thought her soft soprano voice carried like the ocean breezes, wavering sweetly and curving around the notes as though each one was precious to her; each lyric was given a new meaning by her voice, high as sea-birds and a million times more melodious. But he didn't love her.

"I feel as though you are a world away from me," she said, bravely attempting a smile. Link appreciated then that she did not fall into his arms seeking comfort and denial of an irrefutable fact, dissolving into pointless sobbing and begging him to take her back when he had never given her up. "May you have the best of life with whomever you have chosen over me." As Lulu glanced at him, he saw no fragile tears shivering in the depths of her eyes, light and lavender but with a darker emotion in them than he had ever seen take hold there before.

"I've chosen no one over you," murmured Link, understanding the necessity of the lie. "No one could," he added, allowing some earnestness into his eyes as she looked at him with as disbelieving a glance as she had ever regarded him with.

"Then why are you leaving the Zora?"

"How—" began Link, but was cut off gently.

"Do not ask," she said, shaking her head sadly. "It's difficult to explain. I knew you would leave us eventually. You have the spirit of a wanderer—you _always _had the spirit of a wanderer, ever since you returned our eggs… I only hoped—our children—" Lulu's rich voice faltered, and she looked at him pleadingly. Mikau stirred inside Link, begged him to leave him here, with the sea and Lulu, neither of which were anywhere in Hyrule. Link's voice caught in his throat as Mikau struggled, flailing inside him, begging to be left here with the woman he loved so dearly.

"You'll know everything in a little while," promised Link hoarsely, suppressing Mikau's rebellion and indulging him in brushing Lulu's cheek as affectionately as his sense of honor dared. "Let's go to Zora Hall," he added, diving into the water and sensing Lulu follow immediately. _Crisis averted, _he thought, sighing in relief. _I'll take her to Mikau's grave later, _he added to himself, as an afterthought.

When they arrived at Zora Hall a few minutes later, having traveled there with no words to one another, he was greeted in much the same way the Deku had seen him: uncontained enthusiasm, coupled with surprise. Link had never felt worse mentally than when he shouted (as best he could through his somewhat constricted throat) that he had an announcement and stepped onto the stage in the Hall, surrounded by expectant, unknowing faces.

"The time has come for me to leave you," he began, expecting interruptions and outcries, but none came. Silent disbelief spread across every Zora's face, and Link swallowed another onslaught of guilt. "It pains me as much as it does you," he added; Lulu looked at her feet quietly, with no expression whatsoever on her face. Link's heart throbbed, and he sensed Mikau's unutterably deep sorrow well up inside him.

"But," spoke up Evan, looking furious, "my band!"

_Of course he'd have an issue with that above all else, _thought Link exasperatedly, temper made short by his utter helplessness regarding Mikau. "Evan," he sighed, "you'll find someone else." Raising his voice above Evan's protests, he added, "I am not what you think I am. I am a Hylian: Link, of Hyrule." He took off his mask before anyone could ask what he meant; he wasn't about to tell instead of show.

He looked around at the shocked faces of the nameless Zora before him, then checked Lulu's expression, half afraid. She stared up at him with undisguised, blank devastation, mouth open like the Zora's more primitive cousins, the fish.

"I'm sorry," he said, now speaking directly to her. She covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head, eyes wide, as though trying to deny that she had ever had anything to do with him. _I'm not bad-looking! _he thought, annoyed, before remembering it probably felt a lot like cheating. She _had _suggested doing rather mature things in her room more than once, and to realize it hadn't been Mikau with whom she'd been flirting had to be completely overwhelming. Feeling generally rejected, Link sighed and turned his attention to the rest of the Zora, who by now were looking more curious than anything else.

"So where's Mikau?" growled Evan.

"I…" Link hesitated, glancing at the traumatized Lulu before continuing, "As you all remember, about four years ago, the Gerudo stole Lulu's eggs. I had just walked onto the beach when I found him drifting in the tide…" He swallowed, speaking more quickly as Lulu looked up with horror in her eyes. "He wasn't dead… yet. I helped him ashore, and he told me in no uncertain terms to help you, Lulu. Then…" He trailed off, and the other Zora seemed to understand what he meant to say.

Lulu took her hands away from her mouth and issued forth a mournful wail, loud and keening. "I knew it! I knew it!" were the only sensible words she could say. A few other female Zora, with apologetic looks to everyone around them, led her gently towards her room, and Link bowed his head, resolving to visit her as soon as possible.

To his dismay, the Zora were already dispersing. "We owe you much, Link of Hyrule," one of them murmured, but then was gone, having dived into the water. Link was to get neither praise nor insults for his trouble, but only indifference. Navi would not need to save him this time.

Link knew the way to Lulu's room, and followed it; afraid to push the already ajar door further open, he could hear wild sobs from within, half-incoherent demands for everyone to leave her room, and soft refusals from the other girls, who were plainly worried she would do something to harm herself in her grieved frenzy. Sorrow clutched at his heart as he took out his ocarina and began to play the song that had soothed so many souls before hers: the Song of Healing.

The wracking sobs had subsided by the time the song was over, to be replaced by a softer, more delicate brand of weeping, as Link observed upon opening the door a little further. The other Zora looked at him with pity and gratitude in their eyes, and Link exchanged one last, unspeakably sad look with Lulu before walking away, feeling Mikau flailing in anguish as Navi sparkled in sorrow.

**((Ugh, sorry for the delay! The three-day weekend threw me off, and then I totally forgot yesterday since I'm proud to call myself a Whovian-in-training… Anyway… Here's your daily dose of depression.))**


	6. Chapter 5: Sympathy and Sorrow

_Dawn of the final day…_

Link awakened to those words, resonating in his mind as surely as if something had whispered it in his unconscious ears. Checking to see if Navi was still asleep, Link pulled on his tunic and boots, reflecting on how short a time it was until the next morning, when he would have to leave.

_Last time I tried to leave, it was after another three-day span, _he thought. _Three and a half years ago to the day, tomorrow. _But the drawing of himself, the Skull Kid, and the two mischievous fairies that were Tatl and Tael had reminded him that he was leaving behind a world just as rich as Hyrule, in its own ways. He had headed humbly back to Romani Ranch after very little deliberation and asked to be taken in; Cremia had happily given him her late father's room, which he had accepted just as gladly.

But of course, his conscience wouldn't let him stay for free, so he did his fair share of farm work and hunting for some of their food, as well as doing odd jobs to earn them money, which they refused to accept. He had been forced to come up with some extraordinarily creative ways to give them the rupees—hiding them in bedrooms, usually, which is how he knew exactly where everything was in Cremia's. Romani's… well, he was considerably closer to her than to her sister, so he knew hers for different reasons.

The sky was pale blue as he walked outside; the sun probably hadn't risen more than half an hour ago, and the air was crisp and still chilly—spring wasn't until tomorrow, so the weather yet retained the right to be cold and snappish. Link's feet directed him to Epona's stall; he doled out her daily breakfast, humming the song that was written for her. He wondered vaguely who had come up with that song first—Malon's mother, or Romani's father.

"Good morning, Grasshopper," said Romani from behind him, making him jump. He ruffled a hand through his hair somewhat nervously, unused to having no cap to cover his unkempt hair.

"Hey, Romani," smiled Link, feeling his cheeks burn.

"That's a good look for you," smirked Romani, pointing to his hair; Link automatically flattened it.

"You helped mess it up," he accused, but couldn't meet her eyes any longer. He still wasn't used to these dual views of Romani. It was impossible for him to forget what happened in the evenings during the day, and it was beginning to drive him crazy. He was afraid he had lost his old view of Romani forever. _What happened to the sweet innocent farm girl in my mind?_

"That I did," she giggled. "So what are we going to do today? I'm up for anything you want. You're… leaving tomorrow morning, after all…" She trailed off, but her bright gaze met Link's without any hesitation. Her eyes shone with the spirit that emanated from her at all times, and Link felt the ghost of a smile take its place on his face.

"I'm going to have to tell the people of Clock Town I'm going."

The words seemed to poison the air as they floated there, turning their tongues bitter as they each struggled to find words.

"You should get that out of the way, before you think about it much longer," said Romani gently. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"I should take Navi," responded Link; both of them knew that was a 'no'. Navi always regarded Romani with mistrust she never troubled to disguise, and Romani didn't particularly like Navi either, which mystified Link to no end, as Romani had been the one to take initiative and finally _find _Navi.

"Return soon," smiled Romani haltingly, and disappeared into the barn to milk her cows, leaving Link to contemplate what he was going to say to the final settlement in Termina.

Link stepped onto the base of the Clock Tower, watching everyone's faces. Some positively shone with excitement, others seemed weighed down by apprehension, and still others glowered, as though they were determined not to believe anything he was about to say.

"The time has come for me to leave Termina," announced Link into the silence of the crowd and restless ticking of the giant clock above him. It all seemed very symbolic, come to think of it—that his time was more literally up than if he had been standing any other place.

Link looked around at the faces that had become familiar to him, one by one, and saw disappointment in every face. Anju, now with child, seemed particularly distraught; he had been the one to bear witness to her marriage. Now that he was going away, it seemed that there was no foundation for her life with Kafei. Link was sorry to deprive her of her feeling of stability, but it wasn't enough to keep him here.

_ Marriage. _It seemed almost a foreign concept. Maybe it was just because he had the heart of a wanderer, but it seemed foolish to him to marry, to set one's heart on a single girl for all eternity. Even Romani, whom he adored, would not make him a suitable wife. From what little he had heard of marriage from everyone but Kafei and Anju, living with someone that intimately for that long got old fast. _It would certainly be physically trying—_

"Aren't you going to say something else?"

Jim, now grown into an older child (though he maintained his general air of superiority), spoke up, jerking Link out of his thoughts. He blinked embarrassedly, trying to collect himself. _Where was I…?_

"Why do you have to leave?" asked Anju sadly, giving him a place to start.

"I need to go home," responded Link, thinking more wistfully than ever of his native land. As much as it pained him to go, he had found himself thinking more and more often of Hyrule, and all he had missed. In his homesick mind, birdsong rang through the Kokiri Forest, soft golden rays of sunshine cutting gently through the boughs of the strong, ancient trees that arched above the Kokiri's clearing. The wind whispered across Hyrule Field, stirring the grasses until it seemed an ocean of wavering flowers. Heat rose wavering from the sun-baked ground of the Gerudo Fortress, wolfos' howls echoing off the rocky red cliffs. The quiet murmurings of the Zora's River reached his distant ears as it wound around its calm, grassy banks. The landscape of the entirety of Hyrule, viewed from the peak of his very own Death Mountain, unfolded before his travel-weary eyes.

He started upon having a disembodied hand waved before the magnificent view.

"Did you hear me, Link?"

"S-sorry, Kafei." Link turned red; were his thoughts really so scattered today? "What did you say, again?"

Kafei repeated, patiently, "How soon are you leaving?"

"First thing tomorrow," replied Link. "There won't be time to say goodbye to any of you then, so I'm saying it now…"

"We'll miss you," murmured Anju, waddling up to the pedestal on which Link stood and glancing up at him with a pained expression on her face. "If we have a son… we'll name him after you."

Kafei gave him a proud and yet humble grin, and Link saw the child into which he had been transfigured three and a half years ago suddenly shine through his face. He gave a hesitant smile in response. The Terminians were good people, and he'd miss them more terribly than he would have liked to think.

"Thank you," he murmured, then raised his voice to the rest of the crowd, who had leaned in to try and hear the soft conversation he had been having with the most recently married couple in Clock Town. "I'll miss all of you," he declared; Navi sparkled her agreement, despite her never having met any of them before, and Link noticed that many of the villagers were eyeing her with unmasked annoyance.

_It _is _because of her that I'm leaving, in a way, _he thought, smiling a little as he took out his ocarina. He felt that he should play something for them, something that they could remember him by. One of the melodies from Hyrule…

Link's fingers automatically played Zelda's Lullaby, breath responding in a moment. He closed his eyes, willing Zelda to hear him, to understand he was coming back, to forgive him for anything he might have missed while he was gone. It was difficult to think that less than a week ago, the thought of leaving Termina would have seemed alien and undesirable, and now, he could barely stand staying. It would hurt to leave, but Link was beginning to think that perhaps staying would be worse.

Worry ate away at him rapidly as he imagined what crises might have befallen Hyrule in his absence, but he played the song smoothly through pure reflex; he had played the song more times than he could count, making sure Malon knew it before he so ungratefully left her, just in case she needed it to earn the Royal Family's favor in one issue or another. Upon reaching the end of the lullaby, he felt with some surprise that his eyes had glazed with tears, along with so many of the audience's. He placed his ocarina delicately back in his bag, then soared away without a backwards glance.

"Romani," Link panted, as soon as he found her wandering the ranch aimlessly, "come back to my room with me. I have some things I want to give you…" He smiled exhaustedly. At first, he had been worried that Romani had run off, or worse, since she hadn't been anywhere to be found in the house or barns. Especially as he had come back several hours after he had said he would, as he had felt that he needed time to think.

"Not now, Link," she sighed, sounding exasperated. "It's taking all I've got just to do it as often as we ar—"

"Not for that!" interrupted Link hastily, gesturing frantically towards Navi, who was hovering there in a confused manner. "Some actual _gifts _I would like to bequeath to you, that are in no way related to our evenings."

"Oh… okay," laughed Romani, and Link took her hand and led her back to the house. No words were passed between them, much like his journey to the Zora Hall with Lulu yesterday, but this atmosphere was one less of inevitable tension and more of helpless, jubilant sorrow.

"Here," said Link, once they arrived in Link's room. He opened up his rucksack, still trying to decide which of his many masks he wanted to give her. The actually useful ones he wanted to keep for himself; _is that selfish? _he wondered. But he needed to give her a going-away present, or two, or three, or however many masks he never used.

The entire remainder of the morning was spent giving Romani the masks and explaining their uses, trying to avoid the subject of leaving Termina, failing to do so, and ending up crying multiple times before one mask or another cheered them up.

It was overall the oddest and most emotionally trying day Link had ever had. He'd faced horrors unspeakable to anyone but the bravest, witnessed the near destruction of entire worlds, and solved a huge number and variety of frustrating puzzles, but he had never felt so mentally worn out as he did by the time Cremia rang the bell for lunch.

"I really like the gifts you gave me," sniffled Romani, who was wearing her newly acquired Don Gero's Mask for no reason whatsoever. Cremia glanced at them with tears in her eyes, served them their bread and butter, and left in a hurry. Link thought he heard her sob before she shut the front door.

"I'm glad," said Link achingly.

They ate their lunch in mournful silence, then stared hollowly into one another's eyes. There was nothing left to say to one another, only actions to take which were as shallow as they were pleasurable. But they knew better than to do anything now, in the open. Some things had to remain secret.

Link contented himself with thinking of how both he and Romani had changed over the years. Romani had grown out of her habit of referring to herself in the third person; Link had been exceedingly relieved at this, as that had been the only thing about her that had annoyed him. She had grown more beautiful and mature; he had grown stronger, but softer, and less worthy of bearing the Triforce of Courage.

"Tell me about your friends," said Romani suddenly, jerking Link abruptly out of his reflections. He frowned curiously, beginning to form a question but being cut off before he could say it.

"Everything," she commanded. "You hardly mentioned any of them."

Link decided not to question her.

"You can't call Mido a friend," he said contemplatively, "so I won't talk about him. Fado was one of my friends, kind of," he added. "She was friendly to _everyone_, so I think she only tolerated me, like so many others…"

"Anyone who doesn't love you isn't right in the head," interjected Romani fiercely. Link gave her a wan smile; this was the only way he knew how to accept compliments he didn't think true.

"Anyway," he rushed on, "Saria was my best friend for all my life until I left Kokiri Forest."

"What was she like?"

"She's kind to every living thing, and I remember she's really… _lucky_," reminisced Link. "Everything seems to bend to her will, but she's never been greedy, so she's never taken advantage of nature. Mido kept Saria away from me for a lot of the time, though," he laughed. "He thought we had a thing for each other…"

Romani giggled too, a gentle, rich giggle that sounded like water bubbling in a tiny brook; the familiar sound of it brought a wider smile to Link's face, and he almost forgot he would have to leave her behind tomorrow.

"After that, I met this farm girl, Malon," said Link carefully. "Malon… well… she looks pretty much exactly like you." He blushed a little, his mind roving over whether Malon looked like Romani in _all _situations, but suppressed it by adding hastily, "She's a lot more like Saria than you, though. I've heard her temper is something to be feared, but I've never been around her when she's angry…"

"I'll bet she's never angry _because _you're around," smiled Romani knowingly.

"I… guess?" responded Link, frowning. "Anyway, she's really empathetic, which is a virtue and a fault. In the timeline I left to come back here, I remember she was a slave on her own ranch because the farmhand, Ingo, threatened to harm the horses if she didn't comply… Feeling that sympathetic for the horses is an admirable trait, to be sure, but I like a girl who can stick up for herself." He mimed shooting a bow, and Romani laughed again.

"I wonder if she's learned something about that since you left?" she asked, and Link found that he was wondering the same thing.

"I don't know. And the only one besides that is Zelda, and she's too holy to even touch on," said Link half-jokingly. "I mean, she's perfect inasmuch as she looks like a goddess and is always so… clean. She even crossdressed for seven years to evade capture by Ganondorf, and she's really skilled at the harp and horseback riding and—" He cut himself off; Romani was looking practically alarmed at his enthusiastic praise of the princess. "Anyway, I don't like her like that, all right?" he asked; Romani started, as though she had been thinking of something else.

"Oh, it's okay," she said vaguely. "I mean, I've heard you—it doesn't matter—whatever."

Link decided to ignore this weird response.

"Besides that, everyone pretty much ignored me. Why did you want to know all this?" he frowned.

"I figured I wanted to know who you were going back to," replied Romani in a less unfocused voice. "Who you were likely to be with if you couldn't be with me." Though her voice was uncharacteristically depressed, even as she spoke, a wonderful idea came to Link.

"You could come with us!" he exclaimed, berating himself for not coming up with the idea sooner. "It wouldn't be much of a problem if you came back—we could live in Kakariko Village—all we'd need would be a wagon from your place—"

For a moment Romani looked excited, but melancholy quickly took hold of her features. "No," she murmured, so quietly Link could barely hear her and for a moment was convinced he had misheard.

"No," she repeated, more strongly. "I don't belong in your world, and frankly, you don't belong in mine. It was fun while it lasted," she said, with such perfect sincerity in her voice that Link couldn't help but be hurt that she didn't want to continue it. "But they need you, and you need them, more than we need each other."

"But—"

"Link," she said pleadingly. "Please don't make me think about our separation until it happens. It's going to be painful, but I'm—I'm _scared_ of going somewhere unfamiliar. I couldn't stand being away from everyone in Clock Town for who knows how long—probably eternity—and…" She trailed off.

"They say those adults who go into the Lost Woods without a fairy becomes a Stalfos," added Navi unhelpfully, and Romani's eyes grew wide with fright. Link glared at Navi, who didn't seem remotely abashed, and sighed.

"I can't go with you," said Romani regretfully, but there was a finality to her voice that Link had seldom heard before, and he bowed his head sadly. His last remaining hope for complete happiness had flown away without a backward glance, and now he would have to live with divided loyalties. Forever.

"All right," he muttered, with a resentful glance at Navi, who whisked herself triumphantly back into his cap without further ado.

There was another long silence; Link observed Romani's fine features, resolving to memorize every one of them before he left since he knew it would be a long time—if ever—until he saw her again. He noticed for the first time dark circles under her eyes, and half considered demanding that she go to bed now.

"It seems like there's so much time until tomorrow, and yet so little," Romani murmured suddenly, a smile tugging halfheartedly at the corner of her mouth. "What should we do now?"

"Sleep," said Link promptly, and took her hand. "Oh, come on, you look exhausted," he added as Romani looked exasperated. "And I'm tired, myself. It's not as though it's evening, either," he said, willing her to understand both his meanings.

"Okay, okay," she replied, smiling hesitantly, and followed him up to his room to have one final sunlit nap, Navi's bell-like whispered protests echoing in their indifferent ears.

**((I am so, so sorry for that unannounced hiatus! A lot of things combined prevented me from posting, such as chronic forgetfulness, watching six seasons of Dr. Who, and Thanksgiving, not in that order. So… yeah.**

**Well, looking back on that, nothing much happened, but you know, I regret nothing. Next chapter's going to be a little more interesting… probably…))**


	7. Chapter 6: Abandonment

"Happy birthday…"

The words, murmured from a half-asleep Romani under the covers next to Link, had never sounded less enthusiastic. She stirred and stretched, making a tired kind of noise. As she sat up, she gave him a plainly reluctant smile, and Link grinned uncertainly in return before glancing self-consciously downward and dressing himself. Last night, they had stayed up so late that they might have only gone to sleep a couple hours ago for all he knew, and he wasn't about to go back to his own bed after—

_Navi! _Guilt jolted through Link as he pulled on his tunic and kissed Romani's forehead hurriedly, then rushed to his room as quickly as possible. He had completely forgotten about his overprotective fairy. As soon as he opened his bedroom door, more cautiously than ever before, she pelted him in the head repeatedly, chiming angrily, "Where have you _been_?!"

Link shielded himself, annoyed, before muttering hoarsely, "Romani's room." He began packing his few possessions halfheartedly, throwing things haphazardly into the rucksack Malon had made him long ago. Now that the time was upon him, it seemed nigh unreal. He paused as he picked up the Fierce Deity's Mask, shuddering as a tall figure in the depths of his imagination looked up, met his eyes with an empty white gaze, read his entire soul, smiled eerily, and faded away all in a single heartbeat.

"What were you _doing _in Romani's room, might I ask?"

"Sleeping."

"A likely story! You're completely exhausted, I can te—"

"Now isn't the time, Navi."

The complete weariness in Link's voice seemed to convince Navi even if his words didn't, because she fell silent a moment later, letting him look around the room one final time before he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, noticing for the first time the smell of breakfast cooking.

Cremia gave him a somewhat misty smile as he descended the stairs and thumped his rucksack unceremoniously to the ground beside him as he pulled up a chair to the table and sat down. Link glanced around, at a loss for where to look, and saw that Romani was descending the stairs, looking the worst he'd ever seen her—pale, sleep-deprived, and appearing almost ill—but still beautiful in his eyes. Her personality's radiance was comparable to that of Zelda's this morning: her quiet strength of purpose, her enviable and undying spirit, and her determination to move through troubling times positively shone through all her clear exhaustion and heartbreak. Link was proud of her as she sat next to him, kissing him chastely on the cheek as though she had never done more than that.

Link wolfed down his breakfast, praying he wasn't as rude as he thought he was being, but neither of his hostesses seemed to care. Cremia regarded him sadly through his entire meal, a look which he would never forget—that of utter loneliness and despair—and Romani, for once, had tears welling up in her eyes by the time he finished his meal. Her voice quavered a little as she said, "Well, this is it, then."

Cremia added tremblingly, "We'll miss you."

Neither of them seemed able to say anything more, and Link felt like he was physically choking on emotion, but he managed to nod and walk out the door as though his joints were rusting metal. No sooner than he had, than he discovered that Cremia had prepared him a wagon full of enough food and water to last him more than a week if necessary, as well as several bottles of Chateau Romani and even a couple containing liquor. (Link had suspected Cremia of drinking more than once, as she had awakened him several times in the past by singing in the middle of the night, perfectly untroubled as to how loud her voice was. At least she hit the notes, though.)

He quietly resolved not to touch these, but thanked them hollowly anyway. The reality of his departure had both knocked Link over and not hit him yet at all: it felt like a nightmare, something he could run away from easily and never think of again. But he knew he would think of Termina every day for the rest of his life, wondering what had become of Romani, and his many regrets would never get any shallower.

Cremia raised her hand in awkward farewell as Link assumed the driver's seat of their only wagon; she walked inside in a hurry a moment later, as though she couldn't stand being outside a moment longer without either bursting into tears or begging him to stay. Romani, still unusually pale in the dawn's light, climbed in next to him. For a moment he thought—his heart leapt at the idea—that perhaps she had changed her mind and was coming with him. But she only kissed him with more force behind it than she had ever allowed before, and Link at first thought she wanted another night with him during the day, regardless of Navi's scandalized and persistent presence.

Eventually—Link lost track of time—Romani broke away from him; she had left a single tear glistening on Link's cheek, and for a moment it looked as though she wanted to say something. The fragments of what were once her most exuberant smile tugged at her features; she inhaled as though she were about to speak the words that would convince Link to stay, and he thought he heard a flicker of fear further crack her broken syllable, "I". But she halted herself, only giving him a desolate wave—Link could see her trembling with the effort of holding back a flood of tears—as he signaled Epona to move forward and turn the wagon, and when he looked back for a last glimpse of the only girl he was sure he'd ever love, she was gone.

**((Another short chapter! Sorry, guys, I had thought this one would be longer, but I realized his re-entry into Hyrule was a bit of a different subject from his leaving Termina. Next chapter will definitely be different in some possibly unexpected ways!**

**Also, yay, six chapters in and he is *finally* leaving Termina… This is probably gonna be longer than **_**Seventeen Again**_**…))**


	8. Chapter 7: Losing It

My eyes fluttered open to find Navi frantically hovering above me; as soon as I swatted her away, still half unconscious, she literally glowed with relief. "Thank goodness you're all right!" she gasped, and landed on my chest.

I sat up; my whole body ached, and I struggled to recall what had happened. The last two or three weeks—I'd lost count—had been spent wandering aimlessly through the Woods of Mystery, with Navi's constant and chipper comments about how we were getting closer and not to give up yet. Apparently, some sadistic deities had decided that the only way to get from Hyrule to Termina and back again is to be as close to death as possible without dying. Add that to the list of things I hadn't known, and needed to find out why.

On my way _to _Termina, I had run out of food and water long ago, and I had been beginning to think I'd die alone and forgotten in the Lost Woods when the Skull Kid stole Epona and I fell down a hole into Termina. I had completely forgotten about how close to starvation I had been. This time, it had been much the same; I entered a cavern in the Woods of Mystery, found a gaping hole in the ceiling, and the entire wagon was sucked back into the Lost Woods again.

Don't ask me how that's possible, because I don't know.

Anyway, you can imagine I wasn't too pleased with Navi's little chatter in the background, as it was _her _fault I had landed in this entire mess in the first place. Without her flying off on me like that, I wouldn't have looked for her, which meant I wouldn't have found Termina and I wouldn't have been away from Hyrule for so long. (I wouldn't have gotten my heart broken, either, but then again, I also wouldn't have found a girlfriend or gotten any of the benefits pertaining to one…) And again, if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have been sitting on the forest floor with my head spinning.

"Where are we?" I muttered, cutting her off wherever she was in her monologue.

"Huh?"

"_Where are we_?" I repeated as loudly as I could under my unfortunate circumstances, losing patience rapidly. I'd found over the course of our time together that for someone who was supposedly 'wise', she sure needed a lot of things repeated for her. "Are we still in Termina or did your crazy idea work?"

Navi alighted on Epona's head; Epona tossed her mane, dislodging my obnoxious fairy, and I laughed but sobered quickly—my head ached from hunger and my throat was parched from thirst. If Navi had inadvertently killed me before I'd even been reacquainted with my homeland, I'd never forgive her.

"What are you _doing_, this deep in the Woods?"

I turned my head so fast it made my already fragile brain dizzy; a girl in simple green clothing with vivid hair the color of new grass sprouting in the springtime stood before us with an expression on her face of simultaneous disapproval, worry, and immeasurable relief. Epona whinnied, Navi sparkled an exclamation in astonishment, and Saria smiled gently.

"I wondered when you'd come back, Link," she said in her soft and soothing voice. "Now let's get you home. You've had a long few years, and you're in bad shape." Since she was just a Kokiri—the spirit of a child who had died, made immortal—you wouldn't think she'd be too strong, but somehow I ended up back in the seat of my practically empty wagon. I gave her an exhausted smile, unspeakably grateful that someone had showed up to guide me back to the Kokiri Forest. Add _that _to the list of all the situations I had found myself in, out of which impossibly good luck had led me.

"Happy belated birthday," wavered Saria's voice musically; she had been the one who taught me to sing, and to identify hit notes from missed ones, and her ordinary voice reflected her talents singing. Her childish, quavering ditties were nothing like Lulu's sibilant songs, though their voices had similar pitch and each style had its virtues.

I nodded, unable to say anything in return.

"I'm so glad you've come home, Link. We've all missed you so much…" Her gentle voice had a lilt to it, but her words were in worried, darker tones than I was used to hearing from Saria. There was something she was hiding from me, but I could tell she didn't want to spit it out yet.

Saria had to have led Epona onwards for a couple hours at least, during which I struggled to stay conscious, worried that if I fell asleep, I would never awaken. I found that in addition to her other nature-related skills, every creature she met seemed to trust her. Usually, Epona completely disregarded the commands or suggestions of anyone who wasn't myself or Malon or Romani, but now, she bowed her head and walked quietly forward. What little energy I had left was used up being impressed with Saria's abilities.

I finally slumped over, tired from the lack of sustenance to keep going, and the wildflower-blue gaze of sweet accepting Saria whom I had once so adored was the last thing imprinted on my mind.

When I regained consciousness again, blinking as the full light of the sun fell upon my face, all the Kokiri were gathered around me with expressions on their faces as though someone had died. I realized a moment later that that someone might have been me, then discovered (as I panicked, half-convinced my soul had left my body) that my thirst had been quenched and my hunger sated by some miracle. Navi beamed at me—even if she didn't have a mouth, I could tell that was what she was doing—and I allowed her to cuddle into my hair.

"You're so… tall," said Fado in an awed whisper, jolting me back to my surroundings. There were nods all around, and I sighed; could she have said anything more obvious? I waited for the others to make similar observations.

But instead, no one spoke. I sat up and they backed away almost as though I was dangerous; it came to my attention that maybe they were _scared _of me. It was true—I'd gone away from them before I hit my growth spurt (for awhile, Malon was taller than me, and she'd never let me live it down), and now I towered over them. I was practically three heads taller than Mido, the tallest of the Kokiri at a whopping four and a half feet, if that.

"Oh, come on," I muttered, half annoyed. _What kind of a welcome committee is this?_

"Sorry about them," murmured Saria, jumping up onto a nearby banquet table I hadn't noticed until just then to gain some height on me. "They never truly believed you would return after your second farewell…" She trailed off, watching me intently.

"Right," I growled, guilt pricking uncomfortably at my mind—I struggled to cover it with the illusion of annoyance. "Sorry about that. Now—" I hesitated. What was I going to tell them, that I was leaving _again_?_ That_ would go down real well.

"You're going away again, aren't you."

It wasn't a question that Mido asked, and I was frankly surprised he spoke up at all. He continued, avoiding eye contact, "Saria always said you'd be back. I believed her, but I never thought you'd stay." He looked up, his eyes as dark blue as midnight and piercing into mine. "I'm right, aren't I? You're leaving us."

I sighed, somewhat exasperated. This was definitely not how I had anticipated my farewells to go. The world had a curious habit of proving my predictions wrong, whatever they might be at any given time.

"Yes," I said eventually, and Saria sat down on the table, looking downcast; Mido leapt up next to her and put an arm around her almost protectively. She shot him a glance of gratitude, and I saw with some amusement that Mido could hardly keep back a satisfied smirk. _Well, there's one relationship I would never have expected to blossom._

"When do you have to go?" asked Fado, looking almost comically sad.

"I don't exactly have a time limit," I responded, rubbing the back of my head as I did in awkward situations. "But I'd like to get out of here before sundown, so I don't have to face too many monsters in the fiel—"

"Today?" exclaimed Saria, jumping down from the table; Mido looked faintly put out as his arm fell back to his side. "You're leaving us… _today_?" Her incredulity quickly gave way to sorrow, and I hung my head. I could deal with disappointing many people, but Saria was one of few that I could never say no to. Or, in this case, yes.

"Well, maybe tomorrow morning, then," I mumbled.

"That gives us a little more time to arrange a feast," replied Saria, expression lightening a little. The other Kokiri looked up at her, smiles spreading across their faces, and immediately scattered every which way. It made me dizzy just to watch them, scampering around like forest creatures. _Once upon a time, I was like that, too._

Mido sighed and jumped down from the table. "I guess I'll help set the table when the time comes," he grumbled sullenly. Saria beamed at him, and his glower quickly became closer to a bashful smile as he walked away slowly. I could hardly resist smiling a little, too, at this transformation from the neighborhood bully to the boy with a crush.

"Where's Epona and the wagon?" I asked, realizing with a jolt their absence.

"In the yard in front of your old house," responded Saria promptly, then—only when I turned to look—frowned as though thinking of something troubling. She clearly didn't want me to see her concern.

"Listen, what's going on?" I asked, sitting down at the bench. "You've been acting… weird. Has something big happened?" Momentary panic thrilled through me as I remembered the ruins of Hyrule Castle Town and the ReDeads hunched in the street. What if I had been away when the world needed me most? What if Ganondorf broke his seal? What if—

"Not _really_," responded Saria hesitantly, and for a moment I was relieved, but narrowed my eyes a moment later. I didn't trust her emphasis.

"Tell me," I commanded, and Saria flinched. I had forgotten that she was still a child, and that children didn't exactly like being ordered to do things in that tone of voice. I vaguely remembered being that way myself, and apologized. She nodded her head distractedly.

"We don't know," she admitted, scuffing her foot against the ground. "All we know is _something _bad has happened within the last couple years. The Deku Tree won't tell _us _anything," she added, sounding vaguely frustrated, "but _you _might want to consult him. He's grown a_ lot_ since you left, after all. He can see over the tops of the trees now, and into Hyrule." She paused. "Now, I should get going and orchestrate the feast." She walked off again, sadly, and I didn't do anything to stop her. I could tell this was less about needing to tell the other Kokiri what to do and more about being alone for a little while.

Meanwhile, I turned my feet towards the entrance to the Deku Tree's grove, and I'd be a liar not to say I was filled with apprehension. _Déjà vu. _Last time I had gone to see the Great Deku Tree, I had ended up on a mission that left me scarred in more ways than one. _We'll see if this ends up going the same way…_

**((So how did you like first-person? It's more fun for me to write, since there are more opportunities to display my weirdo sense of humor, but let me know if it's too drastically/unpleasantly different from third person…))**


	9. Chapter 8: The Price of Absence

My audience with the Deku Tree didn't go too well.

Oh, he told me what was wrong with Hyrule, all right. That was _why _it didn't go well. If he had just refused to tell me, like all the Kokiri, I would have been happier. It would have been better for me to see for myself what damage I had caused than to hear it from someone else.

Apparently, my presence in Hyrule was one of the only things that kept the Gerudo from openly rebelling against Hyrulean law. Evidently, the unfavorable outcome of the civil war roughly twenty years prior combined with the execution of their leader without a decent explanation to his native people had, oddly enough, struck a nerve.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked the Deku Tree.

"For roughly two years," responded the Deku Tree heavily. "Ever since they discovered your absence. Some of their kind are seers, able to detect the events of alternate timelines, and no doubt have recognized that your presence is a danger to any who oppose you." The Tree sighed, assuming trees can sigh, even animate ones. "Raids have been mounted on Hyrule Castle Town and Kakariko Village alike, and not unlikely on Lon Lon Ranch as well. Not only have they stolen possessions and livestock, but they have also taken a number of young females, presumably to raise as their own."

"What!" I exclaimed, horrorstruck, and was no less affected now that the conversation was over.

I entered the Lost Woods and located the Sacred Forest Grove, but only after stumbling into all kinds of dead ends in my distracted self-deprecating fury, the final, ominous words of the Deku Tree reverberating in my head: _If the current course of events is unaltered, everything Hyrule stands for will be eradicated…_

Saria lay on the Triforce pedestal, fast asleep. For a moment, I smiled. _So much for organizing a feast, huh? _I sobered quickly as I knelt next to her, unsure how to wake her. Eventually, I lay my hand gently on her shoulder, realizing with some sadness that Saria would still be a child even when I was an old man. Assuming I even lived that long, since I had a war to stop.

"Saria," I said, as gently as possible. "I have to leave _now_."

"…I knew it," replied Saria sleepily, sitting up and stretching. "Tell me what's going on, and I'll help you however I can. I can't do much," she added ruefully, "but what I can do, I _will_ do, and do gladly."

"Thanks, Saria," I sighed, touched. "My absence has started a war in Hyrule, and now I have to stop it. Don't you dare protest," I continued, raising my voice slightly over her predictable objections, "because you know it wouldn't be right for me to stand by and let a war keep going when it's all my fault. Now, let me go."

"All right, Link, but…" Saria frowned again, and I knew somehow that the war was the least of my worries for some reason. "Be careful with those masks of yours, all right? I can barely sense your own identity under all those false ones."

I blinked; I hadn't even thought about my masks since I had gotten back to Hyrule, and a flicker of apprehension jumped up inside my brain as the image of the Fierce Deity's Mask suddenly swam in my vision. "All right," I murmured. "Call off the feast."

"I'll tell them," she said softly. "Come back to us soon, Link. If you need somewhere safe to stay, come here, and bring anyone else who needs help. Your benevolent fairy will ensure that none of you become Stalfos." Navi sparkled at the praise.

"Thank you," I said, smiling a little as I walked with her back to the grove. I was sorry to leave her again so soon after a four-year absence, but I wasn't about to let my other friends die—_I hope they're still alive for me to save, _I thought with a jolt of fear. That hadn't occurred to me (or rather, it had, but I had suppressed the thought until now).

I hitched Epona to the wagon; she complained a little at first, happy with her free-grazing and the open space of the Kokiri's grove, but she recognized the urgency in my voice as I spoke to her, and stood still. It wasn't longer than five minutes before we were off, me waving a frantic goodbye to Saria.

Epona had never run quite so fast, let alone that fast with me plus a wagon full of masks. I think it was mainly because of where we were headed; I've never seen a horse more attached to its owner than Epona to Malon. It was probably also that I was yelling at her to run, and spurring her on as my panic grew.

My head was first and foremost filled with worry that Lon Lon Ranch wasn't burnt to the ground by Gerudo, or that Malon hadn't been seized. What little part of me was not concerned about matters as important as that was preoccupied with how I would feel towards her; she was so similar to Romani, in appearance and otherwise, that I worried that I would fall for her, which would feel like disloyalty.

When I ascended the mesa to Lon Lon Ranch, slowing a panting Epona to a walk, the first thing I heard (after registering with much relief that the ranch was intact) was a "_Hi-yah_! Take _that, _you Gerudo horse-rustling murderous wolfos!" and I ducked automatically. The sensation of my hat being whisked off my head and pinned to the wagon by an arrow followed quickly.

Navi flailed inside my cap, flying out tremblingly a moment later and sitting on my shoulder. I ruffled my already untidy hair, no less shaken, and suddenly observed Malon standing in the doorway with a bow (a second arrow already nocked) in her hands, looking as though she'd seen a ghost.

"Li… Link?"

I stepped down from the wagon; my legs weren't exactly stable after my best friend had tried to kill me. "M-Malon," I said, stepping cautiously towards her. It was unspeakably weird to have carried on a full-on relationship with your best friend's spitting image; my body recognized Malon as Romani, despite all the subtle differences, and it hadn't been satisfied in several weeks. I swallowed down the overwhelming instinct with some difficulty, and settled for extending my arms in the offer of a hug.

Malon rushed at me, bow and arrow clattering to the grassy ground, and threw her arms around me; I could feel a couple tears soaking into my tunic, and automatically kissed the top of her head just as if she were Romani after a hard day. She didn't seem to mind, though I'm sure she felt my heart rate increase drastically just after I realized what I had done, and just when I thought maybe everything was going to be okay she let go of me abruptly and slapped me with all her considerable strength.

"_Ow_," I yelped, staggering, shoving her away from me as I rubbed my cheek. "What was that f—"

I didn't finish my sentence. I knew what I had done, and so did she.

"The least you could have done was write!" she shrieked. "I thought you were _dead_! You never told me you were going to stay away for _four years_—it's been _hell _on this ranch since you left! The Gerudo have stolen all but two of my horses, and that's only because I was away from the ranch at the time, helping out the survivors of the worst Kakariko raid—" She cut herself off and wailed, "I thought you had _died_!" once more before burying her face in my shoulder and sobbing.

I patted her on the back awkwardly with one hand, still using the other to massage my sore face. "I'm sorry," I murmured, knowing how lame an apology that was but unable to find a better one. "…What happened in Kakariko Village?"

Malon glared at me through bloodshot eyes. "Since _someone _wasn't around to stop them, the Gerudo rode into Kakariko one night about a year ago and burned the entire village down. M-most of the people escaped, but th-there w-were a few casualties all the s-same. I t-took one of them in, since his entire f-family and his fiancée died…" She trailed off, sniffling, and leaned against my wagon. "Where have you been?" she added scowlingly.

"You'd never believ—"

"I believed your story about the alternate t-timelines, all right, so I think I c-can, actually," she said, tart in spite of her crying. "Go a-h-ahead. Tell me everything. And I mean _everything_. You better have a g-good reason for sta-staying away so long."

The way she said it sounded like if I didn't, she was going to gut me, so I told her the whole story. Well, most of the story. I omitted the fact that I carried on a relationship with Romani, but I think she might have guessed from my heightened color in my rushed summarization of her and Cremia.

The problem was, since I covered up the real reason why I hadn't left, I no longer had an excuse for staying away four years. Saying I couldn't find Navi for that long, coupled with the fact that Navi kept glowing that I hadn't been looking, seemed like a weak story, and I could tell Malon was anything but pleased.

"Did you think about me _at all_?" she asked in a whisper, so quietly I could barely hear; I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to have heard, so I didn't respond. Besides, if I told her the truth, the answer would be very close to no. Granted, that had largely been because I had forced my thoughts entirely away from Hyrule the majority of the time, which unfortunately included Malon.

"I don't suppose you know anything about the origin of that mask I told you about?" I asked, taking the silence as an opportunity to extricate the Fierce Deity's Mask from the tangle of face coverings in the back of the wagon and present it to her with a guilty kind of smile. Malon's teary eyes glinted angrily as she snatched the mask away from me, examining it harshly before thrusting it back into my hands.

"I have no idea." I had been expecting that answer, but started as she continued, "And even if I did, I wouldn't t-tell you! You deserv-ve to be left in the d-dark. You left _us _in the dark!" Malon sighed, all the fight seeming to vanish. "You can sl-sleep in Daddy's bed." One final tear streaked down her cheek and she looked at my feet, clearly downcast.

"What—" I began, startled.

"Dead!" she bellowed. "Died two years ago! Killed by the goddess-damned Gerudo!" She sobbed once more, another flood of tears flowing, and I put my arms around her; I had_ never_ felt so awkward, and that was saying something. Romani hadn't been quite this sensitive, but then, she had very little to be distraught about. Malon, meanwhile, had evidently been bearing one hell of a burden in my absence. The guilt was more crushing than the Great Bay's depths.

"I'm so sorry," I said, rocking her back and forth. This had definitely not been how I had anticipated our reunion, assuming I had even been anticipating anything. I had been a little bit preoccupied with worrying over whether she was _alive _or not, let alone how we would receive one another.

"W-well, come inside," managed Malon, giving me a very watery smile as she unhitched Epona, who nuzzled her former owner before galloping off to the pasture. "Make yourself at home. You always h-have, anyway." She turned away and opened the door, and I followed quickly (after grabbing a few of the more important masks just in case some Gerudo were out a-thieving).

Ascending the stairs, I heard Malon murmuring something to someone, and I wondered for a moment who it could be before I remembered her telling me about the refugee in her house. Shrugging to myself, I dumped my things in Talon's former bedroom, then went to find Malon. The fact that she had given the _male _refugee her mother's bed, situated in her own room, irked me a little, but maybe she had originally given him Talon's bed and they had just grown close over the year he had stayed here. So what?

I stopped dead in the doorway of Malon's familiar room, staring at the bed I had occupied almost every night four years ago, because the young man lying there was none other than Kafei.

**((Dun dun dun! See? Since Cremia and Romani are reflections of Malon, and Cremia has a crush on Kafei, and everyone seems to have a counterpart? Yeah… ahem. Anyway.))**


	10. Author's Note

**((Don't get your hopes up! This isn't a new chapter, unfortunately.**

**In case you haven't noticed, I've taken a bit of a break from this story, because I may have actually changed my theory AGAIN. I'll modify this notice if I change any of the chapters beforehand.**

**I'm really, really sorry! I'll get back to this as soon as I can, but for now, I have a lot of ideas in my head combined with writer's block…))**


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